Facts

2013 rainfall

“I’ve seen it wet all season, where we picked in the rain all day, but I’ve never seen it where we couldn’t get a crop in the ground,” said Edmundson, 47, who sells corn throughout the region and fresh produce at roadside stands and farmers’ markets.

Record rainfall and flooding along the French Broad River have devastated farmers like Edmundson, drowning many crops, slashing yields on others and jacking up costs by forcing farmers to spray more fungicides to hold off diseases that thrive in moist conditions.

Of the roughly 85 acres he farms, Edmundson has lost all but eight acres of tomatoes that were planted on higher ground. Flooding wiped out 45 acres of sweet corn, 10 acres of crookneck squash, 10 acres of zucchini, 5 acres of half-runner beans and several acres of pumpkins.

After several tough years of produce prices not keeping pace with rising costs, Edmundson said he won’t be able to farm next year if the government doesn’t provide some disaster assistance to cover his crop losses. The rain has washed away his seed money for next season.

“I’m not one to ask for anything,” he said. “I don’t farm for the mailbox. But without some type of relief, there’s no way I can continue to farm after what’s happened this season. The window of opportunity to replant is closing fast, and it’s still too wet to put anything in the ground to gain back what we’ve lost.”

Almost 50 inches of rain has fallen at the Asheville Regional Airport since January, nearly double the 26.25 inches that gauge normally sees. The National Weather Service reported Wednesday that 11.74 inches of rain have fallen in July so far, nearly three times the month’s normal precipitation to date.

“A lot of the older farmers, guys in their 60s and 70s, they’ve never seen anything like this in their lifetimes,” said Jason Davis of North River Farms in Mills River. “It rains every day, and if doesn’t rain during the day, it rains at night.”

Virtually every segment of agriculture in Henderson County has seen an impact from excessive rainfall, said Mark Williams, executive director of Agribusiness Henderson County. Corn and vegetable crops, tree nurseries, sod and hay fields, apple orchards, berry patches and cattle ranchers have all taken a hit, he said.

“Anybody farming in the areas near rivers or flat ground has suffered significant damage, and in many cases, their crops were destroyed altogether,” Williams said.

On Friday, Congressman Mark Meadows will tour several county farms damaged by flooding and oversaturated soils. Williams said he helped arrange the tour to give “growers an opportunity to share with the congressman what they’ve experienced. I know his staff is working hard to see whatever assistance is available.”

Kirby Johnson, a seventh generation farmer in Mills River, estimates he’s lost 300 acres of sweet corn along the French Broad, nearly half his planted acreage. About 60 percent of his pepper crop has been destroyed, he said, along with roughly 20 percent of his tomatoes.

“But corn is what is super, super bad,” Johnson said. “I normally take 160,000 crates of sweet corn, that’s what I sell to Ingles, Bi-Lo and Publix. This year — I’ve just run my totals — I’ll be lucky to have 50,000. That’s 30 percent of my crop. That how bad it is on sweet corn.”

Johnson, a co-owner of Flavor 1st Growing & Packing, considers himself lucky to have a solid tomato crop so far.

“I’m 63 years old and farmed all my life,” he said. “My first crop of tomatoes, we had 24.6 inches of rain and that’s the first time I’ve ever grown with so much rain from start to finish. I’m looking pretty good, considering. But there are lifelong farmers in Henderson County that are close to being devastated by these storms.”

Effects on livestock

Bradley Johnson’s family has been raising dairy cows in Henderson County since the 1920s. They grow corn on more than 1,000 acres in Buncombe, Henderson and Transylvania counties to grind up into feed for their cows at Taproot Dairy Farm.

But flooding took 700 acres of their corn this summer, Johnson said, “and about 350 acres looks terrible.” Without enough feed to support them, Taproot has been forced to sell off between 250 and 300 of its herd, leaving roughly 450 cows left. The best culls will go to other dairies, but most will end up at a slaughterhouse.

“We’ve never sold a cow from lack of feed in 93 years,” Johnson said.

Up on the North Mills River where flooding was minor, Davis said the jury is still out on his crop of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash. But this season’s deluge has already cost him dearly — he’s lost about a third of his corn and soybean crop to flood damage along the French Broad. Meanwhile, his spraying costs have skyrocketed as he fights to keep blight at bay.

“Our spray bill has already exceeded what it was in all of last season,” Davis said. “Normally, we would spray on a seven- to eight-day rotation, and right now we’re spraying on a 4- to 6-day interval. … Late blight, if it goes untreated, it’ll cause a complete failure. It will eat your lunch.”

Davis said local growers are trying to remain optimistic and hoping drier weather prevails. But he acknowledged the agricultural forecast is for above-normal precipitation over the next 30 to 45 days.

National Weather Service meteorologist Lauren Visin said forecasts call for slight chances of rain Thursday and Friday, but added “precip chances will ramp up Saturday evening into Sunday afternoon” as another low front settles over the area.

<p>In the three decades that he's been farming in Henderson County, Randy Edmundson has seen some rainy periods, but nothing like what he and other growers have experienced this spring and summer.</p><p>“I've seen it wet all season, where we picked in the rain all day, but I've never seen it where we couldn't get a crop in the ground,” said Edmundson, 47, who sells corn throughout the region and fresh produce at roadside stands and farmers' markets. </p><p>Record rainfall and flooding along the French Broad River have devastated farmers like Edmundson, drowning many crops, slashing yields on others and jacking up costs by forcing farmers to spray more fungicides to hold off diseases that thrive in moist conditions.</p><p>Of the roughly 85 acres he farms, Edmundson has lost all but eight acres of tomatoes that were planted on higher ground. Flooding wiped out 45 acres of sweet corn, 10 acres of crookneck squash, 10 acres of zucchini, 5 acres of half-runner beans and several acres of pumpkins.</p><p>After several tough years of produce prices not keeping pace with rising costs, Edmundson said he won't be able to farm next year if the government doesn't provide some disaster assistance to cover his crop losses. The rain has washed away his seed money for next season.</p><p>“I'm not one to ask for anything,” he said. “I don't farm for the mailbox. But without some type of relief, there's no way I can continue to farm after what's happened this season. The window of opportunity to replant is closing fast, and it's still too wet to put anything in the ground to gain back what we've lost.”</p><p>Almost 50 inches of rain has fallen at the Asheville Regional Airport since January, nearly double the 26.25 inches that gauge normally sees. The National Weather Service reported Wednesday that 11.74 inches of rain have fallen in July so far, nearly three times the month's normal precipitation to date.</p><p>“A lot of the older farmers, guys in their 60s and 70s, they've never seen anything like this in their lifetimes,” said Jason Davis of North River Farms in Mills River. “It rains every day, and if doesn't rain during the day, it rains at night.”</p><p>Virtually every segment of agriculture in Henderson County has seen an impact from excessive rainfall, said Mark Williams, executive director of Agribusiness Henderson County. Corn and vegetable crops, tree nurseries, sod and hay fields, apple orchards, berry patches and cattle ranchers have all taken a hit, he said.</p><p>“Anybody farming in the areas near rivers or flat ground has suffered significant damage, and in many cases, their crops were destroyed altogether,” Williams said. </p><p>On Friday, Congressman Mark Meadows will tour several county farms damaged by flooding and oversaturated soils. Williams said he helped arrange the tour to give “growers an opportunity to share with the congressman what they've experienced. I know his staff is working hard to see whatever assistance is available.”</p><p>Kirby Johnson, a seventh generation farmer in Mills River, estimates he's lost 300 acres of sweet corn along the French Broad, nearly half his planted acreage. About 60 percent of his pepper crop has been destroyed, he said, along with roughly 20 percent of his tomatoes. </p><p>“But corn is what is super, super bad,” Johnson said. “I normally take 160,000 crates of sweet corn, that's what I sell to Ingles, Bi-Lo and Publix. This year — I've just run my totals — I'll be lucky to have 50,000. That's 30 percent of my crop. That how bad it is on sweet corn.” </p><p>Johnson, a co-owner of Flavor 1st Growing & Packing, considers himself lucky to have a solid tomato crop so far. </p><p>“I'm 63 years old and farmed all my life,” he said. “My first crop of tomatoes, we had 24.6 inches of rain and that's the first time I've ever grown with so much rain from start to finish. I'm looking pretty good, considering. But there are lifelong farmers in Henderson County that are close to being devastated by these storms.”</p><p><b>Effects on livestock</b></p><p>Bradley Johnson's family has been raising dairy cows in Henderson County since the 1920s. They grow corn on more than 1,000 acres in Buncombe, Henderson and Transylvania counties to grind up into feed for their cows at Taproot Dairy Farm. </p><p>But flooding took 700 acres of their corn this summer, Johnson said, “and about 350 acres looks terrible.” Without enough feed to support them, Taproot has been forced to sell off between 250 and 300 of its herd, leaving roughly 450 cows left. The best culls will go to other dairies, but most will end up at a slaughterhouse.</p><p>“We've never sold a cow from lack of feed in 93 years,” Johnson said. </p><p>Up on the North Mills River where flooding was minor, Davis said the jury is still out on his crop of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash. But this season's deluge has already cost him dearly — he's lost about a third of his corn and soybean crop to flood damage along the French Broad. Meanwhile, his spraying costs have skyrocketed as he fights to keep blight at bay.</p><p>“Our spray bill has already exceeded what it was in all of last season,” Davis said. “Normally, we would spray on a seven- to eight-day rotation, and right now we're spraying on a 4- to 6-day interval. … Late blight, if it goes untreated, it'll cause a complete failure. It will eat your lunch.”</p><p>Davis said local growers are trying to remain optimistic and hoping drier weather prevails. But he acknowledged the agricultural forecast is for above-normal precipitation over the next 30 to 45 days.</p><p>National Weather Service meteorologist Lauren Visin said forecasts call for slight chances of rain Thursday and Friday, but added “precip chances will ramp up Saturday evening into Sunday afternoon” as another low front settles over the area.</p><p><i>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>